Kajauli Phase V-VI line set to miss deadline

Akash Ghai

Tribune News Service

Mohali, February 22

The Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA) and the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation had assured Punjab Governor-cum-UT Administrator VP Singh Badnore that an extra 40 MGD water supply would be started through the new Phase V-VI pipeline of the Kajauli waterworks by April 30 this year, but the construction work on the main pumping stations at Sinhpur village is yet to take off.

The Chandigarh MC and GMADA have to construct their own pumping stations at the site for the supply of the extra 40 MGD of water to Mohali, Chandigarh, Panchkula and Chandimandir through the new pipeline, having a capacity to supply 80 MGD of water.

According to experts, it will take around six months to complete the project. The Chandigarh MC will construct a pumping station of 35 MGD capacity at Sinhpur village in Kharar while GMADA is yet to decide on the capacity of its pumping station and water treatment plant there. 

Manoj Bansal, Chief Engineer, Chandigarh MC, however, claimed that the pumping station would be ready by April 30. The MC is also constructing an underground reservoir of 4 MG capacity for the new pipeline and work on it is in progress. The MC is yet to lay a 7.5-km pipeline, which will connect the Sector 39 waterworks with the pumping station at Sinhpur village. The MC, however, claimed that 90 per cent work of laying the pipeline had been completed.

GMADA is yet to decide the capacity of its pumping station and water treatment plant at Sinhpur village to supply water through the new pipeline (Phase 5-6). It has acquired 35.22 acres for the purpose. SK Kansal, GMADA Chief Engineer, said a decision in this regard was yet to be taken. 

GMADA is facing difficulty in connecting the new pipeline with the inlet tank at the Kajauli waterworks. 

The existing pipelines are leaking, making the site slushy. The work of connecting the pipeline at two places under the railway line is also yet to be done.  The PSPCL is also yet to set up a grid substation to provide electricity connection to the main pumping station of the Chandigarh MC. The funds for the substation will be provided by GMADA.

New pipeline 

In the first phase, the new pipeline (having a capacity of 80 MGD) will bring 40 MGD of water of which Chandigarh will get 29 MGD, Mohali five MGD and Panchkula and Chandimandir three MGD each.

Project cost escalates

The Rs 156-crore project was launched in March 2012 with a deadline of August 31, 2013. The deadline was missed. Later, several more deadlines were missed. Now, the cost of the project has escalated to over Rs 200 crore.

1983 arrangement

According to the arrangement of sharing water, decided at a meeting chaired by the then Union Home Minister on July 6, 1983, 20 MGD of water from the Bhakra Main Line was to be distributed as under: 

• Chandigarh: 14.5 MGD
• Punjab (for Mohali): 2.5 MGD
• Haryana (for Panchkula): 1.5 MGD
• Chandimandir Cantonment: 1.5 MGD

At a meeting held on March 10, 1989, which was chaired by RP Ohja, the then Chief Secretary of Punjab, it was decided that the same pattern of distribution of water would be adopted for the Phase II and III pipeline. Similarly, for the Phase IV pipeline, the same pattern was adopted.